


uninvited

by rosyafternoons



Category: The Dragon Prince (Cartoon)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-29
Updated: 2019-04-29
Packaged: 2020-02-09 20:22:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,866
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18645424
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rosyafternoons/pseuds/rosyafternoons
Summary: Normally, a cat on your couch wasn’t much to marvel at.Unless, of course, you don’t have a cat.





	uninvited

**Author's Note:**

> howdy!! this is just smth quick i wrote based on a prompt given to me by annidudes on tumblr :)

The cat lay sprawled across the worn, faded couch, yawning and stretching as Rayla stood in front of it, unblinking. It raised its head, peered at her with bright green, curious eyes for a few long seconds, before it decided Rayla wasn’t interesting enough to give the time of day and dropped its head, tail curling as it closed its eyes again and resumed its nap. Rayla still hadn’t moved from her frozen position, keys still halfway into her pocket and mouth agape. She shook her head and screwed her eyes tight for a few seconds, wondering if her seven hour shift at the small coffee shop across town had worn her out to the point of hallucinating, but when she opened them again, the cat still lay there, nestled into a dip in the fabric of the chair, breathing evenly and calmly. 

Normally, a cat on your couch wasn’t much to marvel at.

Unless, of course, you don’t have a cat.

Rayla looked around, wondering how the hell the cat got into her apartment in the first place. It couldn’t have gone through the front door…maybe the window? She glanced at the window to her right, and, sure enough, it was open. 

Goddamnit,” she mumbled, shuffled over and closing the window before anything else could get in. she must have forgotten to close it this morning. She heaved a sigh once it was closed, turning to face he problem at hand – which was now no longer on the couch, instead climbing onto the coffee table and inspecting the various nik-naks Rayla had forgotten to put away. 

Just before it could knock over an empty glass, Rayla rushed over, “Oh no you don’t,” she hastily said, and the cat merely mewed in protest as she lifted it from the table and placed it back on the couch. The cat didn’t seem to mind being moved, now content with rubbing its face against her arms and knee. 

“Where did you come from?” Rayla wondered aloud, fingers brushing the spot between the cat’s ears. It seemed to like that, purring contently and nudging her hand some more in response. She stayed like that for a little, before realizing she had no idea how to look after a cat, or what to do when a cat randomly shows up in your home. 

The cat rolled onto its back and stretched, and Rayla smiled at that, scratching behind its ears and under its neck, “I bet you’re hungry, aren’t you?” she asked. The cat, like it knew what she had said, rolled over and leapt off of the couch to sit on the floor and meow.

Rayla stood up and made her way to the kitchen, the cat in tow. What do cats like to eat? Milk? Fish? Rayla really didn’t know anything about cats. She peered into her almost empty fridge, digging around in hopes of finding anything other than leftover takeout boxes and redbull. She managed to dig out a can of tuna and put it on a plate before placing it on the floor in front of the cat. It seemed to enjoy it, and, well, it wasn’t repulsed by it, so Rayla considered this a win. She hummed to herself, before she realized she should probably give this cat back to its owner. 

She waited until it finished eating, gave it a few more pats, and then scooped the cat up into her arms. She considered knocking on the doors of her neighbors, but decided against it, seeing as though she’s known all of them for more than a year now and not once has she heard of a cat in the building. Regardless, she placed the cat outside, before firmly shutting her front door, pushing down any guilt she felt at its insistent meowing.

“Sorry, cat,” she whispered to herself, “But someone else is looking for you.”

*

It’s a few days later when it happened again. Rayla had assumed that the cat had found its owner, as she hadn’t heard any of her neighbors say anything about a cat in the building since the incident. She drops her bag on the floor upon seeing it, disbelief clear on her face. She’s speechless for a few seconds, before her brain catches up to her.  
“How…?” She didn’t know how to finish that sentence. Instead she walked briskly over to the cat, picked it up, and placed it outside of her apartment. She closed the door and turned around, sighing to herself.

She checked every window in her apartment, scowling as she sees that her bedroom window is open just a crack. How the cat managed to squeeze in through there, she had no idea. She shut it anyway, and went straight to sleep.

*

The next few times were the same – Rayla would come home to see the black ball of fur either scratching at her door or curled up in front of it, and tried her hardest to keep it from wriggling its way in when she shuffled inside. It seemed that no matter how many times she moved the cat away or held her door open just enough for her to squeeze through, the cat was determined to get inside. She didn’t have the faintest idea why, but she didn’t want to tell the landlord in case there was some sort of policy against cats and she ended up getting one of her neighbors in trouble. 

For now, she would just have to put up with the constant mewling and scratching at her door. After all, it couldn’t last forever, right? Surely, surely, the cat would get bored and go annoy someone else. Rayla silently hoped that whoever owned that cat (if anyone owned that cat) would manage to keep it from coming back again, and that this would be the last time it happened.

*

It wasn’t the last time it happened. Rayla wasn’t even surprised to see the cat scratching at her door as she approached her apartment, and merely shook her head.

“You must really love my apartment, huh?” She pondered aloud, and didn’t protest when the cat slithered inside as she opened the door. She closed it behind her, shrugging off her jacket and throwing it on the couch. The cat jumped onto the sofa just after, settling on the crumpled lump of fabric. 

She should probably call someone. Shit, who would she even call? Who do you call when a cat shows up in your apartment repeatedly? Pest control? No…she should probably tell the landlord. 

She stares at the cat, and it looks back at her from the couch. She blinks. It blinks back. 

“Fine,” she grumbles, walking over and plopping down on the couch next to it. It stretched out, and she moved her hand to scratch behind its ears, “You can stay here for tonight.”

Rayla didn’t have the slightest clue on where cats liked to sleep, so she pulled a blanket out of her cupboard that smelt like dust and spread it out on the floor, as well as laying out some newspaper and a bowl of water and some more tuna, and hoped that it was enough. She tiredly dropped the cat onto the blanket and headed to bed. It wasn’t until she was moments away from falling asleep that the cat jumped onto her bed and curled up behind her. 

She didn’t even remember leaving the door open.

*

A sharp knock at the door woke her up. She glanced at the clock on her nightstand and groaned. Because it was 7:30am. On a Saturday.

Begrudgingly, and much to the dismay of the knocks that seemed to only grow louder and more insistent, she slowly got dressed and shuffled over to her front door. She caught sight of the blanket that lay on her living room floor, and remembered the ball of fluff that still lay sleeping on her bed. She should really take care of it soon.

She opened the door, rubbing the sleep from her eyes, “Hello? What do you w-“ she stopped midsentence. The girl that stood in front of her was about her age, with long, straight hair that tumbled down her shoulders and a cheerful smile that stretched across a good portion of her face. Rayla quickly composed herself, clearing her throat, “I mean, uh, what can I help you with?”

“Hi! I’m Claudia – we just moved in about a week ago. I’ve been really busy unpacking so I haven’t had much time to say hello to everybody, but I was finally free so I though I’d stop by and introduce myself,” Claudia smiled and tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear.

“Uh, hi,” Rayla replied, suddenly feeling very stupid in her ratted pajamas, and then thought, “We?”

“Oh, right, yeah. I’m living next door with my brother, Soren, until one of us can afford to live on our own.”

“Oh, okay.”

“Yeah…” Claudia trailed off, eyes darting to the wall behind rayla, before landing on the inky black cat that had just slunk its way out of Rayla’s room and down the hall. 

“You found him!” She exclaimed and rushed forward to pick up the cat. It yelped in protest, but Claudia ignored it, instead smushing their faces together, “I missed you so much! Yes I did! yes I did!”

Rayla’s eyes widened in realization, “That’s your cat?!”

Claudia turned to face her, “Yeah? He’s been missing since we moved in. I thought he’d wondered off,” she turned back to the cat, and booped it on the nose, “Apparently not.”

“Well, your cat has been showing up at my house almost every day for almost a whole week now, so, thanks,” Rayla rolled her eyes, but Claudia just smiled.

“Thank you so much for taking care of him! Just wait until I tell Soren! I missed you so much, Jeff,” she nuzzles the cat some more.

“Don’t worry, it was no tr- wait, did you just say Jeff?”

“What’s wrong with Jeff?” Claudia pouted.

“Nothing, it’s just so…human-y.”

“Soren picked it. You’d understand if you met him.”

“I’ll have to take you word for it,” Rayla smiled.

“So…” Claudia trailed off.

“So,” Rayla mimicks.

“This is awkward.”

“How so?”

“Well, for starters, I’m standing in a stranger’s apartment holding a cat.”

They both laughed at that. Then, It was back to awkward. Raya suddenly felt like she should at least be wearing a bra right now. Claudia bit her lip and looked to the side.

“Would you…maybe…wanna grab coffee sometime?” Claudia asks.

“Oh,” Rayla said, surprised by Claudia’s bluntness, “Sures.”

“Sures,” Claudia repeated.

“It’s a date,” Rayla says, then hurriedly added, “But not if you don’t want it to be, or anything. It’s just a figure of speech. But it could be? If you, uh, wanted it to be?” Rayla’s brain shut down and she mentally cursed herself for her rambling.

“I’d like that, Claudia smiles, and then they're staring at each other again. before Claudia says goodbye and leaves.

Rayla smiles to herself after the door shuts behind her.

*

That wouldn’t be the last time Claudia's cat showed up at Rayla's apartment.


End file.
